The Coach’s Son

I’ve known Iowa coach Fran McCaffery since he was in ninth grade at La Salle High in Philadelphia and was personally pleased to hear his youngest son, 6-7 highly skilled,  junior wing forward Patrick, had committed to play for the Hawkeyes.

McCaffery who played a major role as a sophomore last spring when Iowa City West won the Iowa state championship, is a Top 30-ranked recruit nationally and it really came as no surprise when he committed to follow in his brother’s Connor’s footsteps and play for his father.

The feel good part of this story is that Patrick has beaten the thyroid cancer he was diagnosed when he was just 14-years old in 2014, just prior to the Hawkeyes’ First Four appearance in Dayton. Fran McCaffery flew from Dayton to Iowa to be with his son during surgery as doctors removed a tumor that was malignant, then returned to Dayton hours before the Hawkeyes faced Tennessee.